Fresh vegetables and salad are the biggest food waste group at 18 per cent, with meat and fish the least at seven per cent.

Pre-prepared and home-made meals make up a tenth of all food wasted.

Bread remains the food we waste the most in terms of weight, with 398,000 tonnes needlessly thrown away each year, as the chart below highlights.

<noframes>Interactive chart: Total avoidable waste per year (in tonnes)</noframes>

As a country we also waste 73,000 tonnes of "tea waste", according to WRAP, and 320,000 tonnes of potatoes.

Dr Liz Goodwin, WRAP Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Consumers are seriously worried about the cost of food and how it has increased over recent years. Yet as WRAP’s research shows, we are still wasting millions of tonnes and billions of pounds.

“The UK is leading the way in tackling food waste and the 21% cut is a terrific achievement by millions of people who have taken action, saved money and helped safeguard our natural resources. However, there is so much more to go for and I believe we should be going for it.

“Research by WRAP shows that if we all make a major combined effort to act now, we can save up to £45 billion, by 2025. It won't be easy but what a prize if we achieve it.

"I commit that food waste will remain a top priority for WRAP and we will be pleased to work with those who share my aspiration."